Today’s article focuses on one of the ancient animals — the turtle.
There are so many turtle quotes available on the web. In this collection, I gathered the best ones.
These inspirational quotes will teach you some meaningful life lessons, such as the significance of hard work, persistence, and consistency.
Many famous people spoke about the turtle’s wisdom.
Here you’ll read their thoughts, as well as various turtle sayings, funny turtle quotes, sea turtle quotes, and memorable quotes from the great ninja turtle crew.
Let’s get down to business!
20 Best Turtle Quotes
1. “Try to be like the turtle at ease in your own shell.” — Bill Copeland
2. “Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won’t be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.” — Ajahn Chah
3. “In the end, everyone loses everyone. There was no invention to get around that, and so I felt, that night, like the turtle that everything else in the universe was on top of.” — Jonathan Safran Foer
4. “Trusting in wealth is like looking for feathers on turtles.” — Senegalese Proverb
5. “Watch the turtle. He only moves forward by sticking his neck out.” — Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.
6. “Wealth comes like a turtle and goes away like a gazelle.” — Arabic Proverb
7. “Take a walk with a turtle. And behold the world in pause.” — Bruce Feiler
8. “Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.” — Alex Haley
9. “Love makes even a turtle smile.” — Henrietta Newton
10. “It’s okay to play a turtle for a while, as long as you don’t get too fond of your shell.” — Eileen Wilks
11. “I felt like time was a great sea, and I was floating on the back of a turtle, and no sails broke the horizon.” — Janet Fitch
12. “My favorite animal is the turtle. The reason is that in order for the turtle to move, it has to stick its neck out.” — Ruth Westheimer
13. “See the turtle of enormous girth, on his shell, he holds the earth. If you want to run and play, come along the beam today.” — Stephen King
14. “I’m as self-contained as a turtle. When I put my key in the ignition, I have my home right behind me.” — Esther Tallamy
15. “No turtle can be a revolutionist because revolution requires high speed.” — Mehmet Murat ildan
16. “We don’t even know if we’re in this room. We could be in a turtle’s dream in outer space.” — Danny Devito
17. “And the turtles, of course… all the turtles are free, as turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.” — Dr. Seuss
18. “I don’t want to live in a world where I could say to my daughter, ‘There used to be turtles that swam in the ocean.’” — Angela Kinsey
19. “Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.” — James Bryant Conant
20. “I learn as much from a turtle as from a religious text.” — Dalai Lama
Inspirational Quotes About Turtles
1. “Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” — Plato
2. “No man has ever seen a turtle climbing the wall. In order to do the things which are impossible for you, you need to change yourself, and better still, transform yourself into something new!” — Mehmet Murat ildan
3. “If a problem looks difficult, relax. If it looks impossible, relax even more. Then begin encouraging small changes, putting just enough pressure on yourself to move one turtle step forward. Then rest, savor, celebrate. Then step again. You’ll find that slow is fast, gentle is powerful, and stillness moves mountains.” — Martha Beck
4. “The Turtle’s teachings are so beautiful. So very special. It teaches us that everything you are, everything you need, and everything you bring to the world is inside you, not external, and you carry it with you and are not limited to a place, space, or time.” — Eileen Anglin
5. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
6. “Do not let fear confine your life Inside a shell of doubt; A turtle never moves until his head is sticking out.” — Charles Ghigna
7. “How you start is important, very important, but in the end, it is how you finish that counts. It is easier to be a self-starter than a self-finisher. The victor in the race is not the one who dashes off swiftest but the one who leads at the finish. In the race for success, speed is less important than stamina. The sticker outlasts the sprinter in life’s race. In America, we breed many hares but not so many tortoises.” — B. C. Forbes
8. “Retain a calm heart, sit like a turtle, walk swiftly like a pigeon, and sleep like a dog” — Li Ching-Yuen
9. “Be like the turtle. If he didn’t stick his neck out, he wouldn’t get anywhere at all.” — Harvey Mackay
10. “I am successful because I have always been a tortoise: I did not come from a rich family, I was not smart in school, I did not finish school, I am not particularly talented. Yet, I am far richer than most people simply because I did not stop.” — Robert Kiyosaki
See also: 220 Best Proverbs About Success To Give You Inspiration
Short Turtle Quotes
1. “Slow and steady wins the race.” — Aesop
2. “A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out.” — Korean Proverb
3. “One day, a tortoise will learn how to fly.” — Unknown
4. “A turtle never abandons its carriage.” — African Proverb
5. “Tortoises can tell you more about the road than hares.” — Khalil Gibran
6. “A turtle does come in its own bowl.” — Mike Dirnt
7. “Men who wear turtlenecks look like turtles.” — Doris Lilly
8. “Sleepy turtles never catch up with the sunrise.” — Jamaican Proverb
9. “You are absolutely free to describe me as a turtle or something.” — Paul Giamatti
10. “The world kept turning, and the Turtle moved.” — Terry Pratchett
Turtle Quotes About Life
1. “You can’t get the taste of winning in a running competition with a turtle!” — Mehmet Murat ildan
2. “Good habits are the basic tools that will determine whether you are a tortoise or hare in life!” — Lucas Remmerswaal
3. “In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case, it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.” — Anita Brookner
4. “It’s OK to do cute little things like kissing a turtle, but you can’t kiss another person because he’s a different color? Give me a break. And you have to remember, I’m from Dallas, Texas.” — Aaron Spelling
5. “I suppose without curiosity, a man would be a tortoise. A very comfortable life a tortoise has.” — Agatha Christie
6. “All the thoughts of a turtle are turtle.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
7. “I’m like an old turtle these days. I don’t run wide-open everywhere, but at the end of the day, I’ll be where I’m supposed to be.” — Tracy Lawrence
8. “Words have a life of their own. There is no telling what they will do. Within a matter of days, they can even turn turtle and mean the opposite.” — Craig Brown
9. “A good thing about turtles is that they never complain carrying their protective shells, As a matter of fact, it helps them increase their appetite! Remember this.” — Unknown
10. “Nature is slow but sure; she works no faster than need be; she is the tortoise that wins the race by her perseverance.” — Henry David Thoreau
See also: 150 Nature Captions For Instagram For All The Nature Lovers
Famous Turtle Quotes
1. “Perhaps I am the turtle, able to live simply anywhere, even underwater for short periods, with my home on my back.” — Kurt Vonnegut
2. “Most people were heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after it had been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too.” — Ernest Hemingway
3. “But we are mostly what we are, and the turtle stretching toward delicious buds on high does not lighten his carapace by his resolve.” — Arthur Miller
4. “When we were little,” the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then, “we went to school in the sea. The master was an old Turtle – we used to call him Tortoise.” “Why did you call him Tortoise if he wasn’t one?” Alice asked. “We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” said the Mock Turtle angrily: ‘really, you are very dull!’” — Lewis Carroll
5. “I am now a turtle. Virtually everything I own is on my back and suffice it to say I am one ton lighter and, therefore, 2,000 pounds happier. All houses are gone.” — Bobby Darin
6. “As true as steel, as plantage to the moon, as sun to day, as turtle to her mate, as iron to adamant, as earth to center.” — William Shakespeare
7. ”It’s the tortoise’s shell, ugly and hard, that protects its lifelong journey on earth.” — African Proverb
8. “The turtle couldn’t help us.” — Stephen King
9. “The moment you introduce the element of IT, which is an interdimensional evil entity, the presence of the turtle comes with it, as a counterbalance.” — Andy Muschietti
10. “I would honestly say I’m in the turtle race. My journey is a marathon.” — Omari Hardwick
Cute Turtle Quotes
1. “Unfortunately, I am not like a snail or a turtle, and I can’t take my houses with me when I move.” — Unknown
2. “If superstition could contradict science, the world may as well be on the back of a turtle. But giving into turtle worship was a bridge too far.” — Thomm Quackenbush
3. “I’m slow, and my wrinkles might annoy you, I’m green and slimy, but I’m sure my shell can protect you.” — Unknown
4. “I actually think I’m more of a turtle than Verne is. Where Verne is up on two legs and moving at full speed and doesn’t pull his head into the shell very often, I, in reality, was five or ten minutes later to every recording session.” — Garry Shandling
5. “We’re the tortoise that has outrun the hare because it chose the easy predictions.” — Charlie Munger
6. “You know the sultans used to light their garden parties with turtles? They’d put candles on their backs and let them wander around. Hundreds of them.” — Joseph Kanon
7. “Turtle makes all men equal.” — Benjamin Disraeli
8. “You don’t ease off until your horses are saddled and on the track. Until then, I’m like a snapping turtle. I snap at almost everybody with impatience.” — Bob Baffert
9. “Turtles are very stable and have been around forever. But they have problems adapting. When humans came along, turtles came under serious threat. Biodiversity is good, and I think it is good in technology as well.” — Unknown
10. “Like an alligator, he can fully digest a turtle shell.” — Bill Brasky
Funny Turtle Quotes
1. “If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is he homeless or naked?” — George Carlin
2. “Always be yourself. Except if you can be a turtle, then always be a turtle.” — Unknown
3. “I got a few speeding tickets when I was young, but I’m a little more like the turtle than the hare.” — Christopher Lloyd
4. “We accidentally gave my boys ‘Ninja Turtle’ names. I can promise you that Michelangelo and Donatello will not be coming out of me.” — Hilaria Baldwin
5. “Turtles are greater than baby nephews because it’s ok to drop a turtle.” — Unknown
6. “Aging gracefully is about no heavy makeup, and not too much powder because it gets into the wrinkles, and, you know, to not get turtle eyelids and to not try to look young.” — Iris Apfel
7. “I want to meet the man who saw a turtle and said, “People will LOVE the ninja version of that.” — Jonah Hill
8. “Rabbits are played. Nowadays, it’s all about the turtles. Tell them it’s a ninja, they’ll freak.” — Etgar Keret
9. “I run. I’m slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter but I run.” — Unknown
10. “My prince is not coming on a white horse… He’s obviously riding a turtle and definitely lost.” — Unknown
Sea Turtle Quotes
1. “The beach is in our blood. Everyone in our family returns to the beach instinctively, just like the sea turtles.” —Sandy Archibald
2. “Pride of one’s work is not improper, unladylike, or vain. Low self-esteem is not modesty. We can all take a lesson from the sea turtle. She does not travel thousands of miles or risk all for her ego. She has an instinct for greatness — one that I believe is found in all living creatures.” — Mary Alice
3. “People want to do authentic things. They want to go horseback riding, fishing, shooting or searching for turtle nesting spots on the beach.” — Philip Anschutz
4. “Being on a successful show is kind of like being a sea turtle. Every year, sea turtles lay hundreds and hundreds of eggs, but only a few manage to survive and mature. It’s the same with TV pilots. There are so many great ideas, but for whatever reason, only the lucky ones get picked up.” — Keiko Agena
5. “Every sea captain who sailed to the West Indies was expected to bring home a turtle on the return voyage for a feast to his expectant friends.” — Alice Morse Earle
6. “‘Changes in Latitudes’ began when I was looking at a photograph of a sea turtle swimming underwater. I had such a strong feeling for the beauty of this ancient creature at home in the sea. On the spot, I wanted to swim with that turtle. I began to imagine a character who would do just that.” — Will Hobbs
7. “Advice from a Sea Turtle: Be fearless. Always believe in yourself. Sometimes you’ll have to dig yourself out of a hole you didn’t dig. Never forget where you came from.” — Unknown
8. “Even a mentally challenged shark would figure out that sea turtles did not wear boxer shorts printed in flying piggies, and no sea turtle would be yattering streams of obscenities between chain-smoker gasps of breath.” — Christopher Moore
9. “The creatures of the sea hold special mystery, and they are among the most exciting, graceful, and beautiful on Earth. Just consider the living riot of a coral reef, the beauty of an albatross, the awesome power of a giant turtle, the grace of a dolphin. Now multiply that by the millions of creatures in the sea. Wow!” — Carl Safina
10. “We could all be in a turtle’s dream, in outer space!” — Frank Reynolds
Ninja Turtle Quotes
1. “We’re lean, we’re green, and we’re mean!” — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
2. “The enemy of my enemy is my bro!” — Michelangelo
3. “Vern Fenwick: You’re a talking turtle?! Raphael: And you’re a human nerd, let’s go!
4. “Face it, man, it’s the only job we’re qualified for.” — Michelangelo
5. “We turtles don’t know the meaning of defeat.” — Leonardo
6. “Yes, dudes and dudettes! Major league butt-kicking is back in town!” — Michaelangelo
7. “I’m the one who licks the icing off the Pop-Tarts every morning and puts them back in the box.” — Donatello
8. “She’s so hot I can feel my shell tightening.” — Michaelangelo
9. “That’s right. We never bothered to look it up in the dictionary.” — Michaelangelo
10. “Turtles in a half shell!” — Vern Fenwick
More Quotes About Turtles
1. “The tortoise stores its wisdom in his shell.” — Unknown
2. “On my door, there’s a cartoon of two turtles. One says, ‘Sometimes I’d like to ask why he allows poverty, famine, and injustice when he could do something about it. ‘The other turtle says, ‘I’m afraid God might ask me the same question.” — Peter Kreeft
3. “Turtles always strike me as devastatingly serious. If turtles could talk, I’d believe everything they said.” — Erin O’Brien
4. “‘Now you see,’ said the turtle, drifting back into the pond, ‘why it is useless to cry. Your tears do not wash away your sorrows. They feed someone else’s joy. And that is why you must learn to swallow your own tears.’” — Amy Tan
5. “Tortoises are cynics, they always expect the worst. Why? I dunno, ‘cause it often happens to them, I suppose.” — Terry Pratchett
6. “Every Halloween for six years, I was a Ninja Turtle, and Mikey was my favorite. The turtles really made me who I am today. They got me into martial arts, meditation, surfing, skateboarding; big time influence on who I am today.” — Greg Cipes
7. “Turtle has just one plan at a time, and every cell buys into it.” — Ted Kooser
8. “I was obsessed with the Turtles, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. There’s Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, and my dad used to call me Callemundo, saying you’re the fifth turtle.” — Callum Smith
9. “Oh, a very useful philosophical animal, your average tortoise. Outrunning metaphorical arrows, beating hares in races… very handy.” — Terry Pratchett
10. “If the road is beautiful, walk the road slowly; be a turtle, be a snail, and even better than this: Stop walking; live the road fully!” — Mehmet Murat Ildan
To Wrap It Up
I hope you liked my collection of turtle quotes.
Share with us in the comment section below us which turtle quote was the best source of inspiration for you.
Until next time!
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